Birthdays
by la anjita
Summary: This is a oneshot but it isn't my usual ship...He was insensitive to neglect her birthday, espcially after her loss, but they won't let him explain...rated T for lanaguage. Just a bit.


Yeah so, as I keep saying my two pairings of choice are Rob/Rae and BB/Rae. Actually, I think BB/Rae is my favourite, but Rob/Rae is easier to write.

Anyway, this is my first BB/Rae attempt so go easy.

And, justso you know, each dotted line indicates a change in perspective, alright? Well then, enjoy.**

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Birthdays

**By La Anjita**

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Raven wasn't crying. Raven didn't, as a rule, cry except for when the situation truly merited it; the end of the world, for example, was such an exception. So today did not differ. Almost as rarely did she permit herself to show any sort of emotion, save an unwilling lapse of her customary control, again in extenuating circumstances –Dr. Light did not count -he was an idiot in a ridiculous costume. In any case neither tears nor random explosions were occurring, at least not by her doing; Beast Boy and Cyborg arguing over eating habits in the kitchen and thus setting alight both their hats was not, by any definition, her fault.

Though not mitigating circumstances, she was finding it harder than usual to reign in her wayward emotions.

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Raven looked down at the operating table with her usual impassive gaze. Large and watery green eyes looked back; there was no betrayal in his gaze, he was resigned to his fate; that car had hit him hard and it was either put his hindquarters in a cast and live out the rest of his days as a cripple, only able to painfully shift in place for more comfort, or end it and live out his immortal days in a better place.

He was glad that his dark lady had had chosen the latter. His dark lady was thinking of him and not her. He knew she loved him dearly and he knew that she was sad to see his passing but she was glad she was with him during it; she may stay outwardly impassive but his keen senses were always able to penetrate that wall, and it was for that that she loved him.

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Raven held in a soft sob as his large green eyes glazed over and then shut of their own accord, softly furred face relaxing into an expression of such serenity that not even repose could rival. The nurse handed him to her and she took his maturing form into her arms, cradling him like a mother would her child; so young. She stroked his soft face and sighed, the first indication of her distress at his passing.

A gloved hand settled on her shoulder, fingers firm and yet tender. She could feel the strength there; could feel how much stronger he had become over their five years together as a team.

His voice had deepened, not quite as much as Cyborg's had but deep nonetheless, and the soft husky undertone had become more pronounced. She could hear the growl in his voice as he breathed, the sound unconscious and natural. It was more pronounced when in a time of sadness or distress and softened into a purr when content. She could recall the sound of it on the battlefield; words barely audible over the guttural growl he reserved only for pure hatred.

She looked away from the peaceful face in her arms and instead fixed her slightly watery gaze on his. Dark green, nearly black, eyes gazed softly back at her. She smiled, granted it was weak, but it was a smile nonetheless. His leaf-green lips curled at the corners, remaining respectfully sombre, and his matured fang protruded, the familiarity comforting her more than words could ever had have.

He took his hand away and nodded silently, walking out of the door and into the waiting room where the other Titans were.

Raven stopped to give her thanks to the nurse and then made her way after the tall changeling.

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There was only one spot of grass on the island upon which they had made their home, and it was reserved for Starfire and her garden. She had gladly dug up a small square of it for the little wooden box that had been created for them by the coroner. It was lowered slowly and tenderly into the ground, her small Azarathian gems on the backs of her gloves glinting in the starlight -he had always liked the twilight.

Starfire covered the box with earth and then placed the thin sheet of turf that had been cut to make way for the small grave back in its original place. The snapdragons were beautiful and it was a final honour to him to be at peace beneath his favourite flowers.

The other Titans walked back to the Tower quietly.

'Goodnight Corvus,' Raven said softly, 'sleep well.' And she followed the others, her right hand hanging at her side, unaccustomed to the absence of the familiar weight of her pet raven.

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It had been several weeks since Raven had lost her first pet and the mood in the tower was back to normal; it had been so for three weeks, the first one reserved for Raven and her quiet grief. Even after four weeks the others occasionally saw Raven raise her arm to allow her little bird rest before she'd snap out of her memory and lower it again.

Beast Boy had been disappearing frequently during those weeks, the reason unknown, but he seemed to be the most distressed, apart from Raven herself, of the rest of the team concerning the bird's absence; many a night he'd hear a tapping on his window and the bird would perch on the end of his bed (his bunk bed abandoned due to his startling growth spurt, after which he stood at nearly three inches taller than Robin (who had always been short and hadn't had much of a growth spurt himself) and was slim and lithe rather than lanky and skinny, it was this that amazed them.) and the nineteen year old would lie back on his bed, stroking the soft feathered crest and recite a few verses of his favourite poem to the bird.

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It was several months later and the day of Raven's nineteenth birthday (she was the only one younger than Beast Boy and had developed just as surprisingly as Beast Boy; now the shortest on the team she was curvaceous rather than lithe and flexible as Starfire was but she was just as toned.) and she felt s slight twinge of sadness about the loss of her little bird as she awoke. She washed it away, however, with the shower of hot water and thick suds before she went about her daily hygiene routine.

There was an unofficial agreement with, well, _everyone_ that there was to be no criminal activity or disruptive activity of any sort on a Titan's birthday or on Christmas and so she donned, not her customary leotard and cloak, but a clean pair of pyjamas and a bathrobe, because it was a team rule that the birthday Titan was permitted to be as goddamned _lazy_ as he or she wanted; and Raven valued this as much as anyone. She was, however, a bit more conservative with her birthday PJ ensemble. Wrapped in her blue Chinese style satin nightwear and fluffy white bathrobe she revealed far less skin than Starfire, (who ran around in her tiny pink shorts and strappy tank top) Robin, (who shuffled, yawning, around in sweatpants of any colour save pink and white and no T-shirt) and Beast Boy (who wore nothing but boxer shorts all day-clean, thank Azar).

Though Beast Boy's choice of birthday attire was…less than modest, it was wordlessly agreed between the girls-even though Starfire was already in a two year relationship with Robin- that Beast Boy (with his matured nineteen year old physique) parading around in nothing but rather short boxers was not a sight to be complained about.

Raven shook such thoughts out of her head and padded softly down the stairs (even in her cumbersome white slippers she made no sound, that was something that annoyed Robin to no end. Beast Boy could do it too, but that was only because his normal form was more feline than human.) and wandered languidly towards the common room door (another team rule was that no powers that the birthday Titan possessed were permitted to be used…lazy day, remember?).

There was no deafening yell of birthday greetings today as the team had come to realise that Raven liked her birthdays to be, not quiet and reserved, but, rather, calm and unhurried- she liked to savour them and the team understood this, what with the end of the world fiasco. So she was greeted merrily rather than boisterously by her teammates.

'Mornings of goodness to you on your day of birth, Friend!' Starfire then turned to Robin, speaking quietly with difficulty and as a result projecting her voice across the room, 'Was that a correct greeting, Boyfriend Robin?'

Robin laughed softly. 'That was fine, Star.' Then he turned to Raven as Starfire beamed and clasped her hands delightedly.

'Morning Raven, sleep well?'

Raven nodded, smiling very slightly. 'I slept satisfactorily, thank you.' Robin rolled his eyes at her terminology.

'Morning, Ms Dictionary.' She turned to find Cybrog's grinning face.

'It's not my fault that the rest of you fill your mind with television and computer games' She nodded at Starfire, 'and Tamaranian folksongs.' The alien didn't notice the slight jibe.

Raven turned back to Cyborg. 'But thank you.' she said, her face softening in friendly amusement. Cyborg nodded, still grinning, and tipped an imaginary hat.

She looked around. 'Where-?'

There was a crash and a green blur tumbled through the door and landed at Raven's slipper-clad feet. She looked down with a thin eyebrow raised. Beast Boy looked up at her and his mouth curled up into a sunny grin.

'G'morning Rae!' (It was a personal rule of Raven's that she permitted Beast Boy to use her nickname on her birthday, just to humour him.) He laughed, hoisting his lean frame out of it's uncomfortable looking knot and jumping to his feet. 'Didya' sleep well?' No matter how much he grew physically, and even mentally, he never stopped his cheery attitude. Raven rolled her eyes at the repetition of Robin's earlier question and Robin grinned from the kitchen.

'I slept-'

'Satisfactorily!' The rest of the room chirruped in unison.

Beast Boy cocked an eyebrow. Raven shrugged and moved to the sofa, slipping out of her slippers and curling up comfortably. Beast Boy jumped over the back to flop down beside her and Starfire and Robin sat on Beast Boy's other side, hands still clasped. Cyborg passed the remote over, each person passing it to the next until Beast Boy took it off of Starfire and offered it to Raven with the bottom pointing towards her, much as one would offer another a sword, holding it by the flat of the blade and presenting the hilt to the other. Raven took it, and then placed it on the coffee table.

'I don't want to watch television.' She said at their bemused faces. 'I want to talk, as friends. Anyway, television really isn't my _thing_.' There were chuckles all around at that. Silence ensued, for a moment, broken by Beast Boy.

'Say, I had the weirdest dream last night.' He grinned as he got everybody's attention, thus breaking the awkwardness that existed before. 'I dreamt that we were at a fancy-dress party and…'

The next two hours were spent reciting their own amusing dreams that they'd had recently and in the past; even Raven had something to say now and then. There was a lot of laughter and good-natured jibing and occasionally Raven even quirked her lips in a rare smile.

'…and then, would you believe it, she turned green and I was snogging the life out of Beast Boy!'

Beast Boy almost choked on his gulp of orange juice. He spluttered and wiped his mouth.

'_What?_'

Cyborg roared with laughter and Raven had to cover her mouth to hide a snigger. Starfire turned to Robin but he silenced her with a kiss before she could begin her question.

'It was just a dream Star, more of a nightmare really but I love you, 'kay? Dreams mean nothing, unless they're those serious Raven-seeing-the-future things.' He nodded at Raven and she returned it.

Beast Boy rubbed the back of his neck.

'Uh…yeah, why don't we move things away from the Twilight Zone? (A/N: I have _no_ idea what that thing is, I'm British, but I've seen it mentioned rather a lot so I figured it was some program like Goosebumps. If it isn't, then replace 'Twilight Zone' with 'a-program-meant-to-scare-but-not-terrify-people', 'kay?)

Cyborg glanced at the clock. 'How's about brunch and then presents?'

'Woo!'

'Please what is 'brunch'?'

'Sound's fine to me.'

'Alright.'

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Several good-natured arguments and a chef hat fight later found the Titans lounging on the cushy sofa digesting several slices of French toast. Beast Boy was patting his stomach happily.

'Mmmm. That's why I like birthdays: the toast.'

Cyborg grinned and bowed. He turned to Raven who had sunk back into the couch, legs curled under her once more.

'And what did the Birthday Girl think of my superior cooking skills?' Beast Boy muttered something about inflated egos in the background.

Raven licked her lips and tilted her head.

'It was' she looked into space a moment, presumably thinking of the biggest word for 'nice' she knew. Her eyes went back to his 'nice.' She smirked as the metal teen stared. Beast Boy punched the air.

'Woah Yeah! (A/N: he he, that's my patented phrase.) Our simplicity is rubbing off on Rae!' He stopped and frowned as Cyborg laughed and Raven raised an eyebrow, smirking wider.

'No, wait…'

Beast Boy was still frowning in put on confusion at his 'simpleton' joke (even _he_ wasn't that stupid) as Robin spoke up, an orange Tamaranian snuggled contentedly in his lap.

'Wasn't it presents next?' He asked the room at large. Beast Boy and Cyborg reacted similarly, tussling in the effort to reach the little pile of brightly wrapped gifts in the corner. Beast Boy stopped and Cyborg fell over him. The changeling looked over at Raven, who hadn't moved.

'Wait, Cy, shouldn't it be Rae who gets there first?' He asked in a strangled voice, deepened vocals rising several octaves at the last word as Cyborg kneed him in a particularly sensitive spot as he stood up. Cyborg winced and offered a hand to the injured changeling who shook his head and lay curled in a ball, huffing and puffing.

'It's times like these that I'm thankful for my metal bits.' He laughed at his pun and offered a hand again which Beast Boy grasped this time and stood, wincing a couple of times before straightening fully.

The two looked at Raven who waved a hand dismissively. 'No, by all means continue making fools of yourselves, it saves me having to hire a clown.' Robin laughed and the two accused put on fake hurt looks before grinning at each other, dashing over to Raven, hoisting her high above their heads and marching swiftly to the other end of the room.

'Left, right, left, right, left, right…'

They flipped her carefully so that she was being held, bridal style, between them. They looked down at her and she gave them a glare that said 'if I were allowed to use my magic right now you'd both be stir fried'. They grinned down at her and lowered her, leaning her so that her feet touched the ground first and then she was pushed forwards into an upright position. She looked evilly over at them and they both bowed. She shook her head and huffed, turning to the other two, both of whom were beaming as wide as Beast Boy and Cyborg. She threw her hands up and plonked herself down on the floor, wincing slightly as she hit it a little harder than intended. She rubbed her now sore behind.

'Need a kiss to make it better, Rae?'

Everyone, as well as Raven, turned to look incredulously at Beast Boy, surprised by his boldness. He merely grinned, one eyebrow raised. The room looked at Raven, bracing themselves for the explosion- all except Beast Boy. He was looking at her, a challenge in his eyes- he knew she wouldn't explode, not in the calm that always settled on her birthday. He smirked as he saw the reply forming in her mind.

'No.' She said and the room let out a breath. They stared as one, however when she added, 'But thank you for the offer.' and turned away. It was said so nonchalantly that they almost believed it. She cocked her head at the silence.

'I thought we were doing presents now.'

There was a mad scrabble between Starfire and Cyborg during which Raven glanced curiously at Beast Boy. He merely smiled and winked before jumping into the melee. After an official order of presentation had been agreed Raven tucked her legs to the side, bracing one hand to hold her up and letting the other hang across her abdomen and rest on the floor. She sat up straight when her first gift was handed to her. Raven always took her time with things- she'd never let herself be rushed- and as such she peeled the ribbon and bright paper away slowly, savouring things.

The first was from Starfire. With Raven's leisurely mode of unwrapping things and the wealth of elaborate bows, ties and ribbons that enveloped the gift it took nearly ten minutes to actually get to the wrapping paper. She peeled that away to reveal…another layer of wrapping paper. The room groaned as Raven cocked her head and set about unwrapping this one. As it turned out, that layer of paper was the last and Raven pulled a small box, reminiscent of the boxes dresses came in, out from the tidy pile of completely intact layers of wrapping paper. Instead of holding it to her ear as Beast Boy used to do (a habit that he had stopped when he had been given something delicate for Christmas and had had to send it back when he had smashed it to pieces after shaking it curiously) she opened the lid of the box with as much precision to reveal…a nightdress. But it wasn't any nightdress; it wasn't the sort of nightdress you'd expect Starfire to give (short and skimpy because she really didn't know any better, bless her). It was long, down to her ankles, and had a slit from the bottom to just under her knee. It had thin straps instead of sleeves and a neckline that would hint at but not reveal her cleavage; it could be adjusted to taste. Raven pulled it out of its little box and held it up, staring speechlessly at it. Starfire clasped hands nervously. (A/N: I have one of those, in white _and_ red. They're gorgeous, seriously, and all satiny smooth.)

'Does it achieve your acceptance?'

Raven kept staring and cleared her throat. Her voice was soft and slightly disbelieving.

'It's…_beautiful_.' Starfire beamed.

'In that case you must put it on immediately!' Raven snapped her gaze up and opened her mouth-

'Yeah Rae, she's right.'

'Go on, girl.'

She looked like a deer in the headlights and stood, looking rather apprehensive. Beast Boy tugged at her bathrobe as she began to move away.

'You gotta leave this behind or else you'll just cover yourself up and we won't see what you look like.' She glared at him but seemed to shrink as the room agreed as one again. She was blushing.

'Fine.' And she shrugged out of her bathrobe and marched off. Robin turned to his girlfriend of two years.

'Where'd you find that Star?'

'Yeah, and what gave you idea?' Cyborg remembered the strange gifts they always received from the alien princess on her birthdays, toasters for example.

'Well friends, Friend Raven and I had journeyed to the mall of shopping and she had agreed to accompany me into a shop of attractive nightwear, though I do not remember the name of it. Friend Raven was doing the 'turning up of one's nose' at the collection they had but I noticed that she had gazed a little longer at one particular item before sighing as she had at the others. Later that week I returned alone and found it once more. It was available in the colours red and white. I chose the red coloured garment as it would, the assistant of shopping said, compliment the colour of her eyes and hair.' She smiled happily. 'We shall see.'

There was another moment of silence that was broken by Beast Boy. He whistled lowly and everybody turned to him. He was staring at the doorway in awe and when the others followed his gaze they found the source of his stare.

It was Raven, clad in her new nightwear, and looking distinctly embarrassed at the attention. There was a collective stare.

'Jesus.'

No one knew who had said it but everyone nodded, the boys anyway. Raven blushed once more but moved forward, sitting down slowly and wrapping her arms around her protectively.

'Can I put my dressing gown back on, now?'

'Dude, why?'

'Because I feel exposed, that's why. I'm not used to having three boys sitting in puddles of their own saliva over me.' They all looked distinctly chastised and Beast Boy held up her robe for her, which she thankfully slipped back into, retreating into it. Robin broke the next awkward silence of the day.

'Next present!'

'Mine!' Robin presented three presents of similar sizes with a flourish and placed them in front of her. He had more money than Starfire but Raven probably liked Star's gift more, he thought.

'Happy birthday!'

Raven smiled, her blush receding, as she reached for the smaller of the gifts. She carefully opened all three and revealed: three new books (His Dark Materials, a trilogy, she saw after examining the blurbs), a set of cook books (that had the room laughing) and a little book with a silver cover and a silhouette of a raven in mat black contrasting with the shining cover. Upon opening it she found it to be a book with Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Raven' written in it. She smiled at that. She looked up at Robin, who was looking expectantly at her.

'Well?'

'Thank you, it's very thoughtful of you.' Robin smiled happily.

'Me next.' Cyborg's large hand produced a large-ish rectangular gift. She took it and shed the gaudy paper off of it. Inside there were a set of aromatherapy candles in dark purple and a small box that looked like the sort of box expensive jewellery would be housed in. She raised an eyebrow at Cyborg.

'You aren't proposing, are you?' Cyborg played along.

'Raven please; I love you with all of my cybernetic autopilot-driven heart.' Everyone laughed. In the background, Beast Boy's laugh wasn't quite as loud as per usual.

Raven opened the box and gasped as a gold ring with a small ruby, similar to the colour of her brooch and belt, inset into it. She raised and eyebrow,

'Are you _quite_ sure you aren't proposing?'

Cyborg laughed again. 'This ring is not just for decoration. You remember when Adonis pulled her brooch off of you in the whole Beast incident?' Everyone nodded, Beast Boy blushing as he did so. 'Well, I figured that you'd need some other sort of tracking device that they couldn't pull off if that happened again. I thought that a ring would be cool because you could wear it on your finger, or your toe, or you could put it on a chain and hang it 'round your neck under you leotard so they couldn't see it, or do the same but make it into an anklet.' He shrugged. 'I thought it'd be a good idea. What do you think?'

Robin answered first. 'That's _brilliant_ Cyborg! I never would have though of that.'

Raven smiled. 'Thank you, it's…pretty.' She glared when everyone stared at her choice of vocabulary.

'And last but not least: BB! What'd you get for our resident bird?'

The young changeling smiled rather nervously. 'Uh…I uh…that is to say…' He was blushing and looking away embarrassedly.

'You…_didn't_ get her something. Beast Boy that's…that's…'

'Yeah B, why not? It's not fair man. She got you somthin'.'

Beast Boy's gaze snapped back to Cyborg's. 'What? But I did…it's not…'

'It's alright, Beast Boy.' Beast Boy's dark eyes followed the quiet voice and looked down at Raven. For once since he was sixteen he couldn't sense what was hidden behind her walls. He stared at her, feeling quietly sad that he'd upset her. Her soft acceptance was even worse than if she had thrown him out of the window.

'But…Rae I-'

'It's Raven, Beast Boy.' His furred ears drooped more at her words than her tone; she let him call her 'Rae' on special occasions- it obviously wasn't special anymore.

His voice was soft, the growl there more pronounced in his distress. 'I haven't…'

'Save it B.'

'Yes Beast Boy.' His ears drooped further; Starfire hadn't added 'Friend' before his name. 'It is most cruel.'

'I think, Beast Boy, that your time today would be better served in your room. I'm sure it needs a clean.'

'But…it _is_ clean. I'm…I'm not a slob now, you know-.'

'I think it does, Beast Boy.' He stared at Robin and then looked over at Raven; she was silent and fingering the new ring on her finger.

'But…I.' His voice was cracking and his eyes were wet. He looked again at Raven.

She wasn't looking back.

Beast Boy rose to his feet silently and disappeared through the door. His ears were lower than they'd ever seen them.

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Beast Boy's head was low when he walked into his neat room. He had grown tired of his pigsty of a room and had gone on a cleaning spree, much to the surprise of the rest of the team. Now it was impeccable and he kept it so. He had also gone on a shopping spree for bedroom furniture, his clothes and other possessions were now stored neatly inside his wardrobe, set of shelves and desk. There was also a wooden chest in the corner, much like Raven's, which contained all the memorabilia he had from his parents. There was a little compartment for the memories of Terra to be stored in; although she had been a crush back then, she was just a lost friend now. After all, there was another in his life now, or at least that was his hope, which had just been badly if not irreparably dashed.

He sighed and sat down, lifting the empty box on his bed and tracing its corners. He didn't mean to lose it. He _had_ got her a gift but he…he _lost_ it. He slapped his head in frustration and grunted; he forgot his own strength sometimes.

He stripped to his boxers and lay face down on his pillow, pummelling it a bit. He had bought that damn thing in the hope that it would cheer Raven up after she lost Corvus. It had been a few months but he could still see that she missed him. He had shopped everywhere until he found the right one and then asked that one was kept reserved for him; there were so few yet so many wanted one.

He'd gone to all that trouble and he'd lost it! He'd dropped the box and it had bounced too hard and fell out of the window. He'd looked all over the island and figured that it must have been swept out to see.

It wasn't until he sat up to wipe his eyes that he found out that he'd been crying. He stopped; it never got anyone anywhere-except small children- but he wasn't one, and was acting like one less and less. He took off his sodden gloves, pearly white claws glimmering softly in the sunlight. They were curved and dangerous-looking and rather feline. He knew he was more feline than any of the other animals he could change into and so his human form took on a lot of catlike characteristics- his voice for one, his claws for another. He scratched behind his ears and ran a hand through his hair.

No one knew that he was actually furry just as no one knew that he had claws. Raven had started to notice, though, and it didn't surprise him- she had always been scarily perceptive. He ran a hand over his face, inadvertently clawing a pair of deepish scratches along the left side of his face, from temple to just level with his left nostril. He yet out a soft yowl and pulled his hand away. He peered into his full-length mirror and growled, stomping over to the first aid kit that each room had. With the help of the mirror, and with a few mistakes due to his reflection being his opposite, he managed to clean himself up and tape a length of gauze along the twin claw marks there. He giggled slightly; this would be a sight to see.

He put his first aid kit away and washed his hands in the simple bathroom adjacent to his room. Each Titan had one but there was no shower there, merely the essentials; a sink, a toilet (and urinal, in the boys' cases) and a cupboard for toothbrushes and such and a first aid kit, obviously. But there was no razor in his cupboard because he'd look ridiculous with the rest of his face furry and his chin smooth. He inwardly cheered and mocked the other two males in the tower. 'Ha, I don't have to risk stinging shaving cuts and you do!'

He slouched back into his room and flopped back onto his large bed. He'd abandoned his bunk bed years ago and instead slept in a large and soft square divan. Above it he had had a set of metal bars installed so that if he changed form during the night into a bat or a sloth or something that liked heights then there were convenient perches available.

He pulled out his fake leather journal (_not_ a diary, thank you very much) and opened it to where his black ribbon marked the next fresh page (not _everything_ he owned was green) and took out his pen. His writing was slanted and neat, contrary to popular belief, but not nearly as neat or cool or loopy as Raven's was; hers was just…posh- all medieval and stuff.

He shook his head and leaned over to write, propping the volume on his raised knees.

_Hey there._

_Yeah, no exclamation marks here because I'm feeling rather…melancholy (I'm so much more eloquent than they give me credit for). I got her that present I wrote about in that last entry and I still haven't found it, so now we were all being all happy and all (oh! It's Rae's birthday I didn't mention that. Oh no, hold on, 'Raven'. She didn't let me call her by my nickname after… after, well, I'll tell you the story first, that would be far more productive, yes?) Alright then. Everyone was downstairs and I'd slept through my alarm clock (thank whatever deity is listening right now for the wonder of the snooze button) so I ended up dashing down the halls and bursting through the door and I fell down and landed at her feet. So, everything was fine and we were sat talking about dreams, Robin's was _gross_ but I won't go into that. So, we were being all cheerful, I mean even Raven was smiling…and that's a beautiful sight to see, let me tell you. Anyway, we had French toast courtesy of Cyborg, and then we did the whole present thing. She got candles and this ring that's an extra homing device should anything happen to her brooch, some books (and a cook book, that was funny) oh and this absolutely_ gorgeous_ nightgown from Star that we made her change into. And Jesus did she look beautiful in it. It was red with this subtle flower petal pattern on it and a slit up to her knee and a nice neckline that was, well, just shy of modest. I almost _drooled_. And then we had to let her put her bathrobe back one 'cause she was feeling embarrassed. She looks cute when she blushes. Yeah, and then it was my turn and I tried to explain but nothing came out and they were all like 'oh you are heartless' and 'it's not fair on her, man' at me. And you know what the worst bit was? Raven said_ nothing._ Nothing at all. And she had _deliberately _thrown up her mental shields- I couldn't sense _anything_. And then Boy Wonder sent me to bed like some naughty five year old. Oh, and I scratched my face, to top it all off. I bet I'll go downstairs tomorrow and they'll treat me as if I did it to try a guilt trip on them or to get their attention or something. The only person who doesn't think so lowly of me is Raven, and she will now because I 'didn't get her a present so I'm a heartless bastard'. And to top it off even more (contradictory, I know. Put it down to trauma) I've forgotten to paragraph this. You see? My life has ended. Yes I'm being overly dramatic. So sue me._

Beast Boy put his pen down with a sad sigh. Resigned to his fate he closed the windows and drew the thick curtains. He turned his alarm clock on and set it for tomorrow morning and crawled into bed, closing his eyes.

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Raven knocked quietly on Beast Boy's door, Robin stood quietly behind her. After an hour or two the common room had become far too quiet without the green changeling's deep-throated laughter and easy happiness. Raven was quieter, or at least seemed that way what with the lack of the boisterous teen, and so Robin had given in, admitting that he had been harsh on the changeling; after all, two or three hours alone in his room would probably have driven the poor boy mad.

He waited beside Raven, who was looking equally contrite. She had regretted immediately after Beast Boy had left that she hadn't spoken in his defence. She had heard the growl in his voice increase in every protest and attempted defence and ignored it, realising only too late that he had been becoming more and more distressed. She had also ignored the sad droop of his ears reach an all time low as he had obeyed Robin and walked slowly towards the exit. She had forced her body to relax and meditated awhile but she still felt guilty. She had told Robin this and what birthday girl wants, birthday girl gets. She knocked again and still there was no answer.

Robin scowled.

'He's giving us the cold shoulder. He's not getting any sympathy from me.' And he punched in the code to Beast Boy's door (that he knew for security reasons) and it hissed open. Raven raised a hand and opened her mouth to protest but closed it as she saw the same thing that Robin had.

Beast Boy was lying on his side, facing the door, his sheets bunched around his waist. One hand rested beside his head, half-curled into a fist. The other was draped over his abdomen, his arm hanging backwards and then cocked at the elbow, leaving his hand-clawed hand, she and Robin noticed with surprise- resting gently against the soft fur- they noticed that with surprise also- on his stomach. His mouth was open the tiniest bit, a sliver of white visible between his lips. They could hear him purring from this distance and if Raven had been any other woman she would have gone all soft and 'aaawww' over him. She shook her head, barely restraining the croon that happy was making. Even so she smiled softly, unable to restrain it.

Robin stepped forward quietly, and the floor creaked. The two held their breath simultaneously; Beast Boy had become a very light sleeper, as long as it was just a nap, otherwise any amount of racket would wake the dead before him. They were fine however, as he merely groaned softly and shifted onto his back. That's when they saw it; a slightly bloody length of gauze taped to his face. Raven gasped slightly; what had happened?

The two birds shared a glance and decided to leave him to rest. She could heal him later and they could apologise afterwards. Just as they left the room and the door was about to close there came a soft mewl from beneath Beast Boy's bed. Raven looked down and a pair of bright green eyes peered up at her. She made a soft sound with her tongue and a tiny little ball of fluff padded over.

Raven lifted it up and held it for inspection. She turned to Robin who was likewise smiling at the tiny thing.

'Do you think we should get Cyborg to check it for any unsavoury diseases?'

'Sounds like an idea to me.'

The two trooped silently out of Beast Boy's room.

---------------------------------

Beast Boy woke up three hours to the minute later. He rubbed his eyes and then crawled onto his knees, arching his back and stretching his arms far up above him. He threw some clothes on and made his way out of the room, filled with a new motivation to find that present he was looking for.

There was a soft giggle and a tiny noise and then a ball of fluff careened clumsily into his legs. He broke into a grin.

'_There_ you are. Now where's that little box you were in, hmm?' He turned around about to head back to his room with the little thing in his arms when he was stopped by the angry voice of their leader.

'Beast Boy!' The accused slumped and turned around, ears drooping again. _Was the punishment still in effect?_

He looked up, a frown on his face. 'I didn't know I was still confined to my bedroom.' His normal put on simplicity was slipping in his frustration. He stood straight. 'Fine, But I'll be taking this' he indicated the ball of black fluff in his arms, 'back to where she belongs.' He was walking as he next spoke, an indication of his annoyance. 'I suppose, oh notorious leader mine, that I am to remain under house arrest until tomorrow?'

There was a silence.

'Are you taking vocabulary lessons from Raven's or summat?'

Beast Boy spun around to face Cyborg, eyes flashing. 'And this is funny, I take it? Little green changeling is to be treated like a child because he _acts_ like one? What if I told you that there is more to me that jokes and pranks? What if I told you that my IQ is nearly 200? Am I still a child? You tell me that, I'm obviously too young to recognise whether or not I'm at fault here.' He was glaring, a glare that was matched only by Raven. His teeth were bared and there was a low growl in his throat. Ooh he was _mad_.

'Is he…yours?'

Beast Boy turned to see Raven stood, awkwardly, to the right of Cyborg. He cocked his head and softened his glare on her just slightly.

'I bought him.'

Raven seemed to slump and he could smell the disappointment leaking off of her. She _liked_ his gift to her? She must have thought that she was a stray.

'But she isn't mine.' Everyone frowned.

'That does not make sense, Beast Boy.'

He looked at her, glare softening into a sad little frown.

'Still no 'friend' affixed there, then? Nothing's changed in my standing today?'

Everyone was silent. He nodded and sighed, placing the tiny black kitten on the floor.

'I never said I didn't get Raven something for her birthday, you guys never gave me a chance to tell you that I lost it yesterday, or rather,' he looked down at the kitten who looked back at him in innocent playfulness, 'she got herself lost.'

He sighed, softer this time, and rubbed her behind her ears. 'Her name's Ruka, because she causes such a ruckus wherever she is.' He smiled down at her and then looked right at Raven. 'It was to help you get over Corvus.' She opened her mouth but he'd started walking before she had a chance to think of anything to say.

'Happy birthday, Rae.' He paused, stopping for a second, ears drooping again. 'Raven.'

And then walked off, turning a corner. They heard his footsteps quicken and his soft growling breaths become broken and erratic.

He was crying.

It took a full minute before anyone even _thought_ of doing anything. Raven glanced down at the small kitten on the floor, looking so adorably innocent up at her, before she dashed off after her previous owner. She completely forgot about her magic as she ran down the corridor. The door was already shut when she reached it.

'Beast Boy!'

She heard his soft and broken breathing and pounded on his door, fists starting to ache.

'Beast Boy! Please open the door! Please! I'm Sorry! Please!'

She rested her forehead against the cold metal, palms flat. Robin kept the rest of the team away, herding them into the common room. It was between the two of them, after all. They heard her yelling…Raven never yelled.

'Please Beast Boy.' Her voice was too soft to be heard through the metal, she knew, but she said it anyway. She'd forgotten about his heightened senses then. He heard every whispered word.

'Please, I'm sorry. I wanted to speak up, I did I just…couldn't. I don't…I don't know why I-' She looked down as a small paw batted her foot. She looked down and picked up the little kitten.

She cradled its weightless form in her arms and smiled as it nuzzled into the crook of her arm.

'She's beautiful.' She murmured, lifting the tiny creature up and nuzzling it back. 'Just perfect, I…thank you Beast Boy. You…thank you. I shouldn't have doubted you…I didn't doubt you, not really, my emotions are kicking me right now.' She smiled sadly and placed a tiny kiss to the door.

'That's for you. I'll give you it in person when I see you at supper. You're coming, I'll make Robin let you or else I'll…I'll set Ruka on him…

She tilted her head, scratching the kitten behind its ears. 'Ruka,' she said absently, still rubbing the tiny thing, 'such a pretty name. Beast Boy you are…you've grown so much I…I'll have to play scrabble with you at some point.' She joked. 'The others are useless and I don't know why. One's a detective, one's half Robot and probably has the entire English dictionary programmed into his brain and Starfire…well Starfire knows Tamaranian so it's difficult to know whether she's tricking us or not.'

She sighed. 'I'll see you at dinner. And if I don't I'll see you tomorrow. You _are_ coming out tomorrow or I'll set Ruka on you, too.' She placed another soft kiss to the door and walked off, tiny kitten purring in her arms.

There was…she was purring to loud, maybe she was echoing off of something. Maybe she-

Ruka was pulled out of her arms from behind. She span around to confront whoever it was-

Lips stopped her in her tracks, pressing firmly yet tenderly against hers. After a quick moment they left and she looked up in a daze. Green lips were smiling down at her. She broke into a smile herself and opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off, his voice low and purring.

'As I recall, you owe me _two_ kisses.' She looked up into his smirking face. His eyes were alight and the low purr was still rumbling from his throat. She blushed at the sound and at the kiss she was obliged to give him. She put her hands on his shoulders and stood on tiptoes, clumsily moving forward and pausing uncertainly, a complete opposite to his swift confident contact. Her eyes flickered nervously; flicking up from his lips to his eyes and then back again. He was smiling, ever so softly, but he wasn't taking the initiative; this was _her_ kiss to give.

She closed her eyes and leaned forward and up the last few centimetres. He didn't kiss her back until her mouth moved against his, and _then_ he responded, satisfied that she had done enough on her own. His throat was still vibrating with his purrs and the vibrations were making his mouth and lips pulsate with it; she felt it and he felt rather than heard her soft sighing moan against his lips. It was a chaste kiss, lengthy, yes, but chaste nonetheless; their lips stayed closed, their tongues inside their own mouths, but his smile hinted that it was or at least _could be_ the first of many.

She was breathless when she pulled away, blushing at the contact between them as much as in embarrassment. He cupped her cheek with a gloveless hand; she could feel his claws on her skin, for the first time in all these years together. She took one hand in hers, moving her fingers along the joints; rubbing at the soft fur-he liked that, if his tiny twitch indicated so, and then stroking the claws that grew in the stead of the typical human nails. Then she reached up and touched the bandage on his face- they hadn't paid attention to it in the hall, such was the commotion he had made with his defiant anger –which was justified, she agreed strongly, her emotions still stomping on her brain. Her hand glowed blue-white a moment and then moved away, pulling the bandage off to reveal his unscarred visage.

He pulled his hand out of hers and enfolded her in his arms before she could protest. She did not pull back but neither did she respond. He tucked his head into her neck, lips just barely brushing her skin as he spoke.

'Happy birthday, Raven.' He pulled away to kiss her chakra gently but she moved back first.

'No.' She said and he felt his ears droop. Then she smiled and moved towards him, cupping his cheeks with her dainty little hands.

'It's Rae,' she pecked him on the cheek and scooped up her kitten and began to walk off. She paused, looking sideways at him and smiled, 'just for today.'

Beast Boy grinned the brightest he had that day and bounded happily after her.

* * *

Whaddya' think? Give us some love, dawg.

Thankies.

--La Anjita


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